Glimpses of Mahamudra

The Tantric Teachings of Chögyam Trungpa

Mahamudra is a meditation tradition within tantric Buddhism that points to the nature of awareness itself, elevating our ordinary perception to the level of the sacred. In this view, all experiences arise from a mind that is naturally vast, empty, and luminous. In this online course, esteemed Buddhist teacher and editor Judith Lief takes us on a journey through the mahamudra teachings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche as presented in his Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma.

Using video recorded during a nine-day retreat, we’ll begin with a deep dive into shamatha-vipashyana meditation—the practice that builds our capacity for experiencing reality directly and completely. We’ll study the hinayana and mahayana—the foundational teachings of the Buddhist path that give us the tools to cultivate gentleness, wisdom, and compassion. We’ll discuss the importance of the heart-opening quality of devotion and the student-teacher relationship in entering the vajrayana. Finally, Lief will guide us in a series of practices and contemplations to glimpse the inherent, sky-like nature of the mind as clear, brilliant, and joyful.

Course Materials

Seven video talks by Judith Lief—ranging from an hour to an hour and a half in length—including Q&A, with transcripts and audio-only versions available

Two archival video talks by Chögyam Trungpa, with transcripts

Basic meditation instruction in both mindfulness and awareness practices

Contemplations to help you integrate the material into your daily life

A 50% discount on The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma by Chögyam Trungpa

A list of recommended readings from The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma, Volumes 1-3

Self-assessment quizzes at the end of each lesson to test your own understanding of the material

Unlimited access on your computer, mobile device, or tablet—learn at your own pace wherever and whenever works best for you

This course is also available in a Group Study Version, which includes a facilitator's guide and everything you need to bring this course to your community.

Details

In this course, you will:

Learn why a strong foundation in the hinayana and mahayana teachings are essential for discovering mahamudra

Identify the key tenets of mahamudra

Establish or deepen in a daily shamatha-vipashyana practice

Explore how our habitual mind functions in contrast to the open, sky-like mind of mahamudra

Explore how precision invites openness in the meditative journey

Learn the practice of tonglen (sending and taking)

Contemplate the absolute bodhichitta slogans from the lojong (mind-training) slogans of Atisha and learn how they are essential for understanding the instructions on relative bodhichitta

Consider the role of nontheistic devotion as an essential prerequisite of mahamudra

Learn about the four yogas of mahamudra

Contemplate the relationship between mind and phenomena

What You Will Learn in Each Lesson

Lesson 1Maintaining the View

“The natural, ordinary state has to be cultivated and worked with in three ways. The first way is by not preparing too much. It is by cutting off our preconceptions of the past. The second way is by not expecting a greater flash. It is by cutting off our preconceptions of the future. The third way is by not holding on to our present flash experience. It is by cutting our preconceptions of the present. We simply rest our mind, this very ordinary mind of nowness.”—Chögyam Trungpa, from The Tantric Path of Indestructible Wakefulness, Chapter 56: Ground Mahamudra

The word “mahamudra” can be translated as “great symbol”—but what is it a symbol of? We’ll begin this course by exploring this question, along with other key tenets of the mahamudra view. We’ll establish some context for the mahamudra teachings: its lineage holders, its place in the landscape of Tibetan Buddhism, and the particular approach of Chögyam Trungpa in presenting it to his Western students.

Lesson 2Shamatha-Vipashyana

“In meditation practice, discipline is not how many hours you sit; it is your total involvement in the practice. In shamatha, body, speech, and mind are completely and totally involved in the sitting practice. In vipashyana, there is also total involvement of body, speech, and mind; in addition, you are also completely aware of the environment around you. When you are involved so much that there is no longer an individual entity left to watch itself, that is the shunyata, or ‘emptiness’ level of practice.”—Chögyam Trungpa, from The Path of Individual Liberation, Chapter 24: The Basic Minimum

When we try to pin down reality, to make it solid, we lose touch with its dynamic nature. The challenge of holding the mahamudra view is that we have a habitual tendency of doing just that. Shamatha-vipashyana meditation gives us the ability to work with that very tendency as we train our mind to open outward. In this lesson, we’ll explore this practice as a means of connecting with reality more fully and directly.

Lesson 3Wisdom and Compassion

“When you look at your own mind beyond the perceptual level alone—which you can’t actually do, but you pretend to do—you find that there is nothing there, and you realize that there is nothing to hold on to. So your mind is unborn. At the same time, your mind is insightful because you still perceive things. You should contemplate these things by looking into who is actually perceiving dharmas as dreams.”—Chögyam Trungpa, from The Bodhisattva Path of Wisdom and Compassion, Chapter 36: Point Two: Resting in Ultimate Bodhichitta

It is said that bodhisattvas thrive in a world that’s full of suffering, the way a lotus blossoms out of the mud. How is it that this path can help us arouse deeper compassion for the pain we encounter, even as we discover a more profound sense of joy? In this lesson, we’ll explore the key aspects of the mahayana path, which joins wisdom and compassion, love and emptiness.

Lesson 4The World of Mahamudra

“Dzogrim is a way of making yourself completely naked. . . .In dzogrim, the word naked does not mean being purely harmless or indulging in good living; it means being unconditioned by expectations or conceptualizations of any kind.”—Chögyam Trungpa, from The Tantric Path of Indestructible Wakefulness, Chapter 49: The Great Symbol

Our discomfort with things as they are causes us to perpetually manufacture a reality of our own making. But what if we could just drop all that on the spot? What if we could perceive the vividness of ordinary reality, and rest with the dreamlike arising of each moment? In this lesson, we’ll learn how mahamudra enables us to cut through the smallness of our habitual mind with the vastness of space. (And if that sounds confusing, you are on the right track!)

Lesson 5Gentleness and Devotion

“The mahamudra experience depends on devotion alone. As it is said in the texts: great devotion brings great practice; medium devotion brings medium practice; and small devotion brings small practice.”—Chögyam Trungpa, from The Tantric Path of Indestructible Wakefulness, Chapter 50: Devotion: The Essential Prerequisite for Mahamudra

In the West, the notion of having a guru is particularly provocative. How do we make a connection to a teacher who challenges us to surrender our ego while still maintaining our critical intelligence? Chögyam Trungpa talked about nontheistic devotion as joining warmth and cynicism. In this lesson, we’ll explore the role of the vajra master in introducing us to sacred outlook.

Lesson 6The Four Yogas of Mahamudra

“In the final mahamudra experience, any phenomenal experience you involve yourself with is seen as a working basis. Sights, smells, touchable objects, and mental contents are all seen as expressions of your particular deity or yidam. There is complete, total involvement, total openness beyond any limitations or hesitations. Therefore, you do not have to meditate. . . .Because everything is so vivid already, it is self-existing meditation.”—Chögyam Trungpa, from The Tantric Path of Indestructible Wakefulness, Chapter 57: Path Mahamudra: The Experience of Meditation

When we release the tightness of our mind, we make space for insight to enter. We can cut through the confusion that distorts our awareness, using practice and skillful means to gradually peel away the layers of what blinds us. In this final lesson, we’ll discuss in more detail how shamatha-vipashyana is the most important tool for glimpsing mahamudra. It’s not just about cultivating mindfulness-awareness. It is a means for connecting with reality.

Praise for Judith L. Lief

“Lief conveys the profound core of the teachings of Buddhism so that anyone can hear and understand. She shows us that in the end, it is kindness, compassion, and mindful attention that matter, and teaches us the simple skill of just being—in all its rawness, love, and pain—with those who are dying.”—Marilyn Webb, author of The Good Death: The New American Search to Reshape the End of Life

About the Instructor

Judith L. Lief is a Buddhist teacher, writer, and editor. She was a close student of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who empowered her as a teacher, and she has edited many of his books including The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma volumes and Milarepa. She has been a teacher and practitioner for over 35 years and continues to teach and lead retreats throughout the world. Lief is also active in the field of death and dying and is the author of Making Friends with Death.

Chögyam Trungpa (1940–1987)—meditation master, teacher, and artist—founded Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, the first Buddhist-inspired university in North America; the Shambhala Training program; and an international association of meditation centers known as Shambhala International. He is the author of numerous books including Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, and The Myth of Freedom.

30-Day Satisfaction Guarantee

If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with your purchase, please e-mail us within 30 days of registering for the course, and we will promptly refund your purchase price.